Gas burners



Jan. 16, 1962 H. G. SMITH GAS BURNERS Filed Nov. 22. 195'? FIG] FIG.5

INVENTOR HERBERT G. SMITH FIG.6

ATTORNEX United Estates. Patent i) 3,016,950 GAS BURNERS Herbert G.Smith, Moline, Ili., assignor to American Air Filter Company, Inc.,Louisville, Ky., a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 22, 1957, Ser. No.698,282 7 Claims. (or. 158-116) This invention relates to gas burnersand more particularly to gas burners of the type wherein one or moreinserts are positioned in an elongated slot of a burner housing to breakup the slot into a plurality of gas ports or outlets.

One object of the present invention is the provision of a gas burnerinsert which is of relatively simple construction and inexpensive tomanufacture.

Another object is to provide an insert which insures uniformly spacedgas outlets for promoting uniform combustion.

A further object is the provision of an insert which resists cloggingand is easy to clean.

A still further object is to provide an insert which may be used singlyin a relatively narrow burner slot and is suited for use in multiples inwider slots.

The individual insert of my invention may be briefly described ascomprising two members: a ladder-like grid, and a separator adapted tobe enclosed within the grid when the grid is folded along itslongitudinal center line. The folded grid and separator cooperate withthe contacting inner faces of the burner slot to provide a plurality ofuniform passageways through which the gas passes upwardly from theburner plenum to the combustion zone at the outlet of the passageways.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein: I 7

FIGURE 1 is a partly broken side elevational view of a burner housingwith an insert mounted in the elongated outlet slot of the housing;

FIGURE 2 is a broken perspective view illustrating the ladder-like gridin plane form;

FIGURE 3 is a broken perspective view of the insert formed by foldingthe grid over the separator;

FIGURE 4 is a Vertical sectional view of the upper portion of a burneradapted to accommodate a single insert, this view being taken along theline 4-4 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a vertical sectional view corresponding to one taken alongthe lines 5-5 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary top view of a burner housing adapted toaccommodate two inserts and an intervening separator; and,

FIGURE 7 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 7--7 ofFIGURE 6.

Referring to the drawing, a plenum generally designated 1 and connectedto receive a combustible mixture of gas is defined by a front and rearwall 2 and 3 respectively, a bottom wall 4 provided with a gas inlet,and end walls 5 and 6. The burner housing may be of any conventionalconstruction such as separate members joined together or may be cast asa sin le unit.

Each insert is made from a folded ladder-like grid 3 (shown in planeform in FIGURE 2) and a separator 9 adapted to be enclosed within thefolded grid. The grid 8 is an elongate, generally rectangular sheet ofheat and corrosion resistant material such as stainless steel and isstamped or otherwise worked to form a series of transversely extendingrungs 10 terminating at each end in a pair of longitudinally extendingrails 11. Each of the four corners of the grid is provided with a notch12 which serves to properly position the insert when mounted in theburner slot.

The separator 9 is a fiat member of substantially the 'ice same lengthas the grid 8 and a width somewhat less than half the length of therungs when the grid is in plane form. Thus, when the grid is folded, theend portions of the individual slots or cutouts bounded by the rungs andrails will lie in a plane below the lower edge of the separator enclosedwithin the folded grid. It may be noted from the drawing that thelongitudinal edges of the separator 9 are slightly rounded, this beingdesirable mainly along the upper edge to insure that the rounded edgemay be seated firmly against the rounded inner surface of the rungbight.

The grid 8 is folded along its longitudinal center line to form aninverted, somewhat rakelil-:e member with each rung 1! assuming aU-shaped contour. The separator 9 is disposed within the folded grid sothat the separator upper edge seats firmly against the biglit of therungs, this resulting in the separator lower edge extending along a linespaced somewhat above the juncture of the rungs and rails. The foldedgrid and separator may be secured together by spot welding throughopposing portions of a single rung and the intermediate separator, orthe grid may be folded to the extent that the separator is frictionallyheld within the rungs.

The structure of the insert as described results in the separator andrungs cooperating to define the three sides of each of a plurality ofvertically extending passageways i3 obtained when the insert ispositioned in the burner slot. The space between the lower longitudinaledge of the separator and the upper longitudinal edges of the railsserves as an inlet for gas to how from the plenum i to thesepassageways. As will be apparent, the number of passageways provided byeach insert is double the number of cutouts or openings provided in thegrid 8 in its plane form.

Referring now to FIGURES 4 and 5, the upper portion of the side walls 2and 3 of the burner housing define the I opposing faces of the elongatedslot which receives the insert. As shown, the slot defining portion ofthe walls are relatively thicker so that the slot width corresponds withthe thickness of the insert while obtaining a plenum width which isgreater than the slot width. The inner faces of the thickened wallportions contact the outer faces of the rungs when the insert is mountedin the slot and thereby serve as the fourth side of eachof the verticalpassageways 13 through which gas flows upwardly to the point ofcombustion from the burner plenum. It will be apparent that gas flowinginto the passageways from the plenum 1 flows thereinto from both betweenand outside the rails 11.

The inserts are supported in the slot by seating the horizontal edge ofeach notch 12 and the end portion of separator lower edge on thehorizontal edge of an upwardly open cut-out portion provided centrallyin each of the end walls 5 and 6. The depth of the end wall notches issuch that when the insert is mounted in the housing, the bight portionof the rungs projects above the upper edges of the walls 2 and 3. Theinsert is secured in position by inverted L-shaped members 14 which arefastened to the end walls by means of a screw 15 or the like, themembers 14 extending upwardly along the outer surface of the end walls,and then inwardly over the top of the insert for a short distance. Theportion of member 14 which overlies the end of the inserts is raised toaccommodate the upwardly projecting bight portion of the insert end. Themembers 14 serve also to prevent the escape of any gas through thecut-outs in the end walls.

The insert of my invention lends itself readily to being used inmultiples in relatively wide burner slots. In this connection, FIGURES 6and 7 illustrate two inserts arranged within a single slot and separatedby an intermediate separator 9. The separator positioned between theinserts in such an arrangement is dimensionally the same as theseparators which are within the folded grid. This results in auniformity of transverse spacing between the vertical passageways 13.This arrangement also permits replacement of a single insert orseparator if required for any reason.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A gas burner insert comprising: a ladder-shaped grid of uniformthickness throughout and including longitudinally-spaced rungs andlongitudinally-extending opposite side rails, folded along itslongitudinal center line to form said rungs thereof into U-shapedcontours, said opposite side rails of said grid extending along thelower end of said rungs to define, between adjacent rungs on each side,the lower end of a series of vertically disposed passageways; and, asingle separator member disposed within said folded grid with the loweredge of said separator member being spaced above the lower end of saidvertically disposed passageways to define therebetween an inlet for theflow of gas into each of said passageways.

2. The insert of claim 1 wherein said separator memher is frictionallysecured within said folded grid.

3. The insert of claim 1 wherein said separator memher is asubstantially flat strip having its upper edge contacting the bightportions of said rungs.

4. A gas burner assembly comprising: a burner housing having anelongated slot in which a plurality of gas burner inserts are receivedin side-by-side relationship; said plurality of gas burner inserts beingas specified in claim 1; and, an additional single separator memberdisposed between each set of adjacent inserts, said additional separatorhaving its lower edge spaced above the lower end of said verticallyextending passageways of said inserts.

5. In a gas burner assembly, the combination, comprising: a gas burnerinsert comprising a ladder-shaped grid of uniform thickness throughoutand including a series oflongitudinally-spaced rungs andlongitudinallyextending opposite side rails, folded along itslongitudinal center line to form an integral element having said seriesof rungs bent into U-shaped contour and said side rails disposed alongthe bottom ends of said rungs to define the lower end of a series ofvertically disposed gas passageways, and a single separator memberwithin said folded grid with the lower edge of said separator memberspaced above the lower end of said vertically disposed gas passagewaysand a burner housing including a pair of longitudinal walls havingopposed inner faces defining an elongated slot receiving said gas burnerinsert, said opposed inner faces having a vertical dimensionsubstantially equal to the vertical dimension of said separator memberwhereby gas may flow into said vertically disposed gas passageways frombetween and outside the side rails.

6. The gas burner assembly of claim 5 wherein: said burner housingincludes end walls having centrally dis posed rectangular openingsreceiving the ends of said insert, the vertical dimension of saidopenings being sub stantially equal to the vertical dimension of saidseparator member; and said folded grid includes notches in the lowercorner of both ends thereof, said notches extending upwardly to thelower edge of said separator member.

7. The gas burner assembly of claim 6 including: a plurality of said gasburner inserts mounted in side-byside spaced relationship; and, anadditional single separater member disposed between each set of adjacentinserts.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,252,305 Puschner et al. Aug. 12, 1941 2,428,274 Flynn et al. Sept. 30,1947 2,470,880 Zimbelman et al. May 24, 1949 2,588,895 Tavcner Mar. 11,1952 2,855,032 Hahn Oct. 7, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 565,470 Germany Dec. 1,1932

